Obon Summer: Nadeshiko no Bon part 2

Happy Friday everyone :)

Here's part 2 from the bon odori that I went to at Seishin-Chuo! ^^

Japan is known for having hundreds-if not thousands-of mascots and characters. Each prefecture, city, ward, etc. has a designated mascot :] If I remember correctly, this is the mascot for kita-ku (the north ward) of Kobe

Bingo!! :] Prizes ranged from bottles of wine from the Kobe winery to small toys and cute towels ^^

My favorite part! Getting ready to dance ^^ 

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! 

Obon Summer: Nadeshiko no Bon Part 1

Happy Tuesday everyone! :)

Summer time in Japan is quite eventful with all of the local bon odori that occur in various neighborhoods, towns, cities, etc. and it's always fun to attend them. The air is filled with the smell of food, music and excitement as people don their summer yukata and gather around the yagura (a wooden scaffold) in a circle to dance. It's a time to remember their ancestors and each region in Japan has a local dance as well as certain music.

I attended this specific bon odori last year, but didn't bring my camera, so I was determined to bring it this year! :) This event is held at the winery in Seishin-Chuo, but they offer complimentary shuttles to and from the place, which made it very convenient! I hope you enjoy the pictures :)

The event staff were very catering to us-- they helped us put on our yukata and also had extra ones for people who didn't have their own :)

We got there a little over an hour before the event started, but it was really nice to see the lanterns hung up ^^

The dark yukata club! I love the colors :)

My other traveling half!! And she's probably one of the nicest people you'll ever meet :D

Had to do a sneaky shot at the hip because they gave me funny looks...but they were all having fun talking story :]

More people began to come and you could hear children laughing all over the place ^^

I love looking at all the different colored yukata that people wear to the bon odori! The designs, patterns and colors never cease to amaze me. 

The festivities began with a performance from a local group and I must say, the little boy in the middle was way too adorable for his own good!

Couldn't resist snapping a photo of the children line-up :) The fact that all of them were wearing yukata made this one a bonus!

Watching the performance on the sidelines...

Thank you so much for reading :) Part two will be up later this week!

Dance Jungle: Kobe Summer School

Happy Friday everyone!

Last week was a whirlwind of hectic, yet fun days with hundreds of Kobe junior high school students. Every year, various schools come to Kobe Gaidai for a few days of Summer School. Kobe ALTs create a number of rooms with different themes such as dance, anime, games, photo booth, etc. in order to encourage the students to practice using English outside of the classroom. This year, I was put in the Dance Jungle room where we taught students a variety of dances. Nonstop dancing for a couple of hours every day was certainly tiring, but it was definitely worth every minute :) We had so much fun painting each other to fit in with our jungle theme. There won't be any pictures of students for privacy reasons, but I hope you enjoy the other pictures! ^^

Jungle paint? Check. 

Animal print headbands? Check.

Fun pose? Check.

Wonderful friends to dance and teach with? Check!! :)

Definitely have some artistic dancers!

Huge shout-out to Sandy for baking us a cake!!! :D 

We decided to go full on jungle and ate it without any forks or napkins :) Thanks Sandy! 

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend ^^

Good Food, Good Company

Happy Tuesday everyone! :)

I haven't eaten out at a restaurant in months, so when a few friends suggested that we grab something for dinner, I was only too happy to agree. We ended up going to an udon shop and, except for a couple other people, had the entire place to ourselves! It was definitely a nice way to end a busy and hectic day :)

I've never been a huge fan of udon, but this bowl was quite good!

mini katsu udon to go with a regular order, or just to eat as a small meal :]

Soba is probably one of my favorite Japanese dishes. Just plain soba with a little sauce makes me a happy camper.

The restaurant had serving size options from 1-4 depending on how big of an order you wanted. If this is a size 2, I can't imagine how large a 4 must have been!

Seasoned rice~! Not a rice person, but I couldn't ignore this one :)

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful week! :)

Cloudy With A Chance of Light: Arashiyama Lantern Festival

Happy Saturday everyone :)

My friend and I went to Arashiyama last weekend for their lantern festival and, well, I'll let the photos speak :)

I love seeing lanterns, especially at train stations. They just seem to be beckoning visitors and locals alike towards the entrance of Arashiyama. 

The usually calm and blue water had turned into a raging, brown and high current because of the heavy rains that have been hitting Kyoto lately. 

The last time I came here was during spring when the water was clear and the skies blue. That definitely wasn't happening when my friend and I came that day...

We did manage to see Tenryuji, but were unable to go inside because they had closed the entrance off to visitors a little early. 

Staff and volunteers working diligently to load all the lanterns onto the rafts and light them. 

Because of the strong current and incoming storm, they were unable to put the lanterns into the river, but seeing hundreds of lanterns lit up was quite an experience in itself :)

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! :)

Summer Ice Cream

Happy Thursday everyone! :)

Sorry for such a lack of posts :/ It's been a hectic two weeks, but with the summer heat and humidity in the air, I wanted to share a picture of ice cream! :) I went to Arashiyama with my friend last weekend for a lantern festival (I'll write a post on that soon!) and couldn't resist getting the summer flavors. I bought the same ice cream special from the store during spring when I went to Arashiyama to take pictures of the sakura (part 1 can be found here). Some of the flavors change with the seasons so from top to bottom: mango, tofu, matcha, kurogoma (black sesame) and yatsuhashi (beneath the kurogoma although it can't be seen). Definitely recommend this ice cream to anyone who visits Arashiyama!

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you have a wonderful week! :)

Omiyage Haul from Hawaii

Happy Thursday everyone! :)

I just got back from my three-week vacation at home with my family and friends and am pretty sure I gained weight from all the food that I couldn't resist eating ^^. It was so nice to see them all! I'm not used to being away from my family for more than six months and was extremely thankful to finally spend time with them :) Just being back in my home with them while we watch movies or cook together made me so happy!

While I was back home, I picked up a bunch of omiyage for my teachers and friends because you can't go on a trip and not come back with anything!. I didn't realize how much I bought until I realized that I would need to check-in two bags, but figured might as well! :)

My large box back in my apartment was overflowing with omiyage

Mini Hawaiian Host chocolates! Bought this at Costco and with ninety pieces inside, it'll be more than enough for my teachers :D

Couldn't get all of my teachers, but still managed find some of their names on these adorable Hawaiian license plates ^^

Forty pieces of yummy Big Island Candies goodness~ 

Got this for one of my friends who is allergic to gluten :) Because when I think of dried fruit back home, the first one that comes to mind is mango!

Can't go wrong with these snack bags of mac nuts ^^ I ended up bringing back eight or nine O.o

These are always popular with teachers so my mom picked up a bunch for me :)

More snacks for my teachers!

Thought these local pancake mixes would be yummy for my friends. All you need is water!

Mac nut Hershey Kisses for later =]

More small trinkets for my friends and some teachers

Seriously contemplated on keeping one of the Grindz Wagon sticky notes for myself because they're so adorable!! Spam musubi, shave ice, saimin, manapua and lau lau..need I say more?

Some keychains to use as prizes for my junior high school students :)

And more! All in the shape of surfboards

My mom also bought a large container of the Mauna Loa mac nut snack packs! 

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful week!